Hematology: Nutritional Deficiencies and Anemia

Course overview

Anemia is often indicative of an underlying disease condition and can be multifactorial. There are three different etiologies of anemia with iron deficiency being the leading cause. The pathology underlying anemia involves low hemoglobin or a low red blood cell count in the blood. The level of anemia often depends on an individual's age, gender, and lifestyle patterns. Severe anemia can lead to serious problems if left untreated. A patient's medical history and the physical assessment of the signs of anemia are important to appropriately diagnose the condition. An anemia can be either microcytic, normocytic, or macrocytic, and laboratory testing, including the complete blood count can help to identify the type of anemia. Health clinicians may need to investigate whether the bone marrow response is adequate. An interesting case study of an unspecified cause of anemia is included, raising the importance of the interdisciplinary team approach to identify cause and management of an anemic state.